Discovering Me
by Alex Kennedy
Summary: Isabelle Lightwood always thought she was a normal human girl; but one day that all changed. Not only is she not human, nothing in her life is as she thought it was. The only one she trusts is Simon Lewis. Her friend and neighbor who's going through the same thing. Will she ever discover the whole truth of who she is? #Sizzy
1. chapter 1

Chapter 1

Blood pooled between my fingers as I pressed the towel down onto Simon's back. He grunted in response.

"Jesus Izzy that hurts."

I pushed black curls out of my face with the back of one hand and shuddered. There was so much blood, but beneath it, I could feel sharp protrusions that I didn't know what to make of.

"Did you get stabbed or something Si? What the hell? You need to get to a hospital!"

"And how would I explain what's wrong with me? Oh hey doc, I've got something trying to escape from my back like I'm the star in an Alien movie. No, I have no idea what it is, I just started feeling pain yesterday morning and I was bleeding by the afternoon. Come on Iz, I'd be shipped off to Area 51 and studied, never to be seen again."

"Area 51 isn't real, genius," I snapped, falling easily into our normal banter, but there was no real heat behind it since I was pretty sure he was partially right. Going to a hospital would probably not be a good idea. "Dammit Jim I'm a dancer, not a doctor."

He laughed. "I'm pretty sure your mom would strangle you for that quote. He never says that in the show, you know. And how are you not passing out? Aren't girls supposed to swoon at the sight of blood?"

I rolled my eyes, swapping the blood soaked towel on Simon's back for one from the clean pile.

"Swoon? Really? Girls see more blood than boys idiot. You know someone is going to come into your dorm room and think you murdered someone. Why would you think that it's a good idea to call your seventeen year old lady friend for this anyway?"

"I don't trust anyone else enough for this," he sighed sleepily, folding his arms under his head. "Sorry about your date by the way."

I scoffed. "No you're not. You hate everyone I date. Besides, I can blame it on Ares, not like Meliorn won't ask for a rain check."

"I don't hate the people you date. I hate that you date like it's a sport and you're practicing for the olympics. You're never serious about them. I actually liked Amanda," Luke sighed.

I changed the subject, not comfortable explaining that it was easier to keep the people I dated at a distance than it was to let them have my heart just to break it. "Do you need me to stay overnight? I'll have to bring Ares here and wait to come back until my mom falls asleep."

Simon shook his head. "You have grad practice tomorrow. I'll text you in the morning. Lucky for me, classes are done for the semester and my roommate has already gone home for the summer."

"You'd better. You're not allowed to die on me Simon Lewis."

I'd known Simon my entire life. His dad Jorge and my mom Samantha were best friends from high school all the way through college, drawn together by their love of comic books, Star Trek, and the Atari. He helped me take my first steps, two little babies waddling around together, our families went camping together every year, so we climbed trees together, swam in our undies together until Si hit double digits. The whole Lewis family was there for me and my mom when my dad left us. Hell, Simon was my first word as a baby. He knows me better than anyone, even my mom, and the gods better watch themselves if he dies.

"How'd the date with Meliorn go?" My friend Amy asked the next day after graduation practice. Simon had been texting me, letting me know that, although he was still bleeding and practically immobile, he was alive, and we were pretty sure at this point that he wasn't going to die, which meant I was able to relax a bit.

"Ares was having stomach issues. I had to cancel."

Amy shook her head. "Isabelle, he's been asking you out every month since school started this year. One day he's going to give up."

I shrugged. "I think I'll survive when he does. And what about his friend Sebastian? He's been asking you out every day all semester."

Amy tossed her red hair over her shoulder and sniffed.

"I'm not into Sebastian."

"Oh god I know that look," I laughed. "Who is he?"

"You don't know him," She said quickly.

"Okaaay," I drew out the word, confused. Amy had never refused to talk to me about a guy. Not since I'd met her freshmen year and we bonded over our awful algebra teacher. It made me curious and it made me wonder what she was hiding about him. "Is he in jail or something?"

"What? No!"

"Then why are you being weird about him? What's his name? What's he look like? Come on Mimi, give me something here."

"Ok, ok, geez. His name is Jace. He's only like two years older than us, and he's got these gorgeous amber eyes. Like gemestones. And long blonde hair… he's so hot, but he knows it."

"That can be a good thing sometimes. So why aren't you dating?"

"I… We're from two different worlds. And besides, I don't even know if he wants to date me."

"A guy would have to be soft in the head to not want to date you Amy."

"Whatever," She shook her head. "Anyway, how's that hot college neighbor of yours doing?"

I was startled for a moment by the abrupt change in subject, but then I thought of Simon as I'd known him as we were growing up. Hair too long, always in his eyes, a little chunky, short for most of the time we've known each other… But also extremely intelligent and kind, always there for me when I needed him.

"Si? Hot?" I couldn't picture how he looked now without seeing him covered in blood, and I'd never looked at him that way before. The thought of Simon with Amy, however, didn't sit right with me for some reason.

"Uh, duh." Amy looked at me like I was a lunatic. "Have you seen him?"

I shrugged and shook my head. "Simon is good. He'll be at graduation, so you'll see him then."

Amy practically squealed with excitement, and then fluffed her red hair around her shoulders. "I'll have to make sure I look ravishing."

I giggled. "You always do and you know it."

"What the hell Simon…?" I squeaked when he let me in. It'd been five days since he'd first asked me to come help him the first time and I hadn't heard from him in the last twenty four hours. Then I'd gotten a frantic call from him that morning, begging me to come by before I had to get ready for graduation. His skin glistened with sweat, brown hair sticking to his neck and forehead. He wasn't wearing a shirt, but I couldn't even focus on his broad shoulders or his six pack that I'd never known he had, because arched over his shoulders were a pair of feathered wings. They were shiny and silver and huge, hanging down his back all the way to his knees.

Simon looked terrified.

I was mesmerized.

"I don't know what to do Izzy. I can't leave my dorm like this."

I took a deep breath to and forced myself to concentrate on helping and not on touching.

"Where's your trench coat?"

We carefully pulled the coat over the wings and Simon's shoulders, buttoning it up so that it wasn't noticeable that he wasn't wearing a shirt. Si's wings were soft and silky smooth and I wanted to continue touching them, but I refrained.

"You'll still be at my graduation, right?"

He nodded. "I'll probably head to my parents' cabin right afterwards. Figure out what to do next."

The cabin made me think of camping together every summer going up. Which made me think of a particular incident.

"Do up remember when we were kids, that one summer we went camping out at your dad's cabin?"

"Are you talking about that year they actually let him have the whole summer off of work?" Simon asked, looking confused.

"Yeah, that one. Do you remember falling out of that giant tree by the lake?"

"We thought I'd broken my back on the way down because I couldn't feel my legs for a while," he said, laughing.

"But when we got to the hospital the doctor said you were lucky…" I hesitated, my thoughts jumbled. "What if you weren't lucky?"

He knew what I meant of course.

"You think I did break it."

I nodded. "Maybe not a huge break, just a bad enough one that you couldn't move your legs. We were a few hours away from the hospital. What if you… healed… in that time?"

Simon gazed off to the right and I knew he was thinking of other possible incidents that would hint that he was different.

"Are your parents still in the Caribbean?" I asked, changing the subject. I didn't want to make him too uncomfortable, and I knew that he was feeling uncomfortable now.

He nodded without looking at me. "You should get home. You know your mom is going to want to doll you up for graduation."

I sighed. My mom pushed me into all of the girly things she could fit into my schedule. She said that she wanted me to always feel like I was allowed to be delicate and feminine if I wanted to be. I didn't have a problem with girly things in general. I actually really enjoyed dance and gymnastics, but I didn't really like cheer, ballet, or beauty pageants, all of which I'd been involved in since as long as I can remember. I just didn't like feeling like I was forced to go to these things. But I knew my mom was just trying to keep me active and keep me from regretting not doing these things. I did a lot of other things also, it wasn't like she forced me to only do things she deemed girly enough to be acceptable. I turned to leave, not looking forward to the hours of makeup and hair straightening I was about to endure even though I knew I always loved the outcome, when a sharp, agonizing sensation shot down my shoulder blades from deep within the bone.

My knees gave out and hit the carpet hard, I could feel my back arch sharply causing my shoulders to hit the floor too. Spots danced in front of my eyes and there was a high pitched ringing in my ears. I tasted blood in my mouth.

"Isabelle!" Simon sounded garbled, like he was talking to me from far away and through water.

I made a noise low in my throat. I vaguely noticed Simon trying to get a response from me, but I couldn't fight passed the pain to respond. It was like my bones were rearranging themselves within my back, pinching and pulling on my muscles and nerves.

Simon stopped trying to get me to speak and I felt his hands underneath my neck and my lower back right before he lifted me and laid me across what felt like his legs.

All I could think about, aside from the obvious 'this must be what death feels like' thoughts, was that same summer that Simon and I were just talking about. There was another incident involving me and a fire. Simon and I had snuck one of Jorge's tequila bottles, went out to the lake and made a bonfire on the shore. We'd both gotten pretty drunk and without realizing it, I stepped into the fire. Neither of us noticed for a minute, and by the time Simon shouted at me and pulled me away from the flames, my shoe had completely melted off of my foot, but my skin was unharmed. Unmarked even. Being drunk, we didn't freak out as much as we should have, we just thought it was cool and made jokes about Game of Thrones and dragons. When my mom asked about my shoe later I told her I thought I'd lost it in the lake. But, like Simon's potentially broken back, that had been one of a few incidents in my life hinting that I wasn't completely normal.

After what felt like an eternity, the pain dulled and faded enough that I could focus on something other than death and fire.

I cursed and sat up quickly, knocking heads with Si in the process. He let out a string of Spanish curses and I grabbed my forehead.

"Christ Izzy." Simon sounded relieved as he curled an arm around me and pulled me close. His hands were shaking.

"I'm ok," I reassured him. My voice was hoarse. Simon pulled back and looked into my eyes, putting his hands on my shoulders.

"Are you sure? You looked like you were about to have a seizure or something."

I nodded, unable to look away from his intense gaze. There was something in his eyes that I'd never noticed before, and it scared me. We were silent for a while, gazing into each other's eyes. It was strange, intimate and new, and I didn't know how to react. Then he glanced down at my lips and I panicked, immediately looking away.

"Was that what it was like for you when your… wings started coming in?"

I heard him sigh softly before speaking. "No. It just started off as a dull ache, not… whatever that was."

"It felt like my bones were moving around. It actually still hurts, but it's bearable now."

Si moved away and stood. "I'll get you some ibuprofen."

When he walked away I put my palms on my forehead and tangled my fingers in my hair. What was wrong with me? This was Si. Simon Lewis. He lived next door to me my whole life, he was there for all of my firsts; first step, first word, first day of school… his dad is my mom's best friend. There's no way he was thinking of kissing me. There's no way I wanted him to kiss me. He was one of the few constants in my life, and I couldn't ruin that by starting something when I knew I couldn't give everything and I also knew that he would. I was delirious from the pain. That was all.

Simon came back, helped me to my feet, gave me the medicine with a glass of water and walked me to the door. He wouldn't meet my eyes.

"I'll see you at your graduation."

I didn't want to leave on such awkward terms. Things had never been awkward between us.

"Do you want me to come with you to your parents' cabin? Help you figure out your next move?"

Simon looked startled for a moment and then he smiled and I relaxed. "Didn't you have plans to go to the beach for a week after your graduation?"

I shrugged, glad that he seemed to be in a good mood again. "You need me. I can always go to the beach later in the summer."

"That would be great. Pack a bag. I'll be leaving straight from your graduation. Can I stash some stuff in your car? I'll be able to bring more stuff than if I tried to pack a backpack and carry it on my bike."

"Yeah, of course. I'll swing by here after graduation and then we'll go."

I felt better leaving after that.

Just as I feared, and secretly looked forward to, my mom dolled me up like crazy when I got back from Simon's. I had to give it to her though, I looked good, just like I knew I would. My hair fell to my lower back when straight and the makeup she put on my eyes really made the green pop. I packed like I was going to the beach so that my mom wouldn't ask any questions, stashed my suitcase in the trunk, and started getting dressed.

"Are you excited?"

Although I do complain a lot about the things that she encourages me to like, I love my mom. I love that, even though she pushes me into things we both know I don't always enjoy, she also lets me do the things I do like, such as singing, kickboxing and cosplay, and she's not pushing me into a particular career or college major. She even let me get Ares, who is a huge high maintenance fluff ball and not a typical 'girl dog.' She lets me be myself, whoever that is at the moment, and I appreciate it.

"Yeah, I'm ready to be out of high school. Is dad coming?"

Mom's face dropped slightly. When I was eight years old, my dad decided that he'd rather be with his mistress than with my mom and I. So he left us and moved in with her and had kids. I hadn't actually seen him since my middle school graduation. I felt for my mom over the whole thing. She loved him so much, when he left I think a part of her broke and never healed. I never wanted to go through that, loving one person far more than they loved me, to the point that they hardly batted an eye when leaving me while I'm left in pieces that I have to put back together practically alone. My mom is the strongest person I know for that.

"I'm not sure," mom said with a false smile. "He said he was, but that was in January."

I grunted, wondering how such a wonderful person like my mom wound up with such a selfish man like my father, and changed the subject, not wanting to torture her even more. I pulled my graduation robe over my dress. "You're bringing Ares, right? I'm heading out right after the ceremony is over and he's coming with me."

My mom laughed. "Yes Diana, I'm bringing your giant wolfdog."

"He's not a wolf, he's a dog." I kissed her on the cheek. "I'll see you soon."

The day flew by. I hugged my friends, took tons of pictures, saw my mom crying when my name was called for my diploma, saw and heard my dad whistling, his new family nowhere in sight thankfully. Simon was whooping, Ares was howling, cameras were flashing, I looked gorgeous and felt confident, thanks largely to my mom's glorious makeover. My shoulders ached, but it was hardly noticeable with the happiness and excitement flowing through me. And when it was all over, I put Ares in the front seat of my car and went to meet Simon before heading to the cabin.

* * *

A/N: I've gone through and done some editing. I like it a lot better now.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Six hours later, it was just passed 11pm, Ares was sleeping in the backseat of the car, the ibuprofen had worn off, increasing the pain to an almost unbearable level. I shifted uncomfortably, glad we were arriving, and pulled in front of the cabin, next to Simon's motorcycle. I had to put both hands on the car to pull myself out, Ares following close to me.

"You ok Iz?"

I shook my head.

"Hurts," I gasped out.

Simon cursed and scooped me into his arms, careful to avoid my shoulders where I could feel my shirt, sticky and wet, clinging to my back.

"Am I dying?" I mumbled.

"No!" Simon shouted, clearly panicked. He seemed to catch himself and took a deep breath before speaking again. "No," he said again, more firmly this time. "You're not going to die."

"Ares?"

"He's right here."

I relaxed in his arms, knowing that Ares and I were safe.

I felt Simon lay me down, most likely on a bed in one of the rooms of the cabin, and I groaned at the pain that shot through me.

My back was arched, just enough to make me uncomfortable, and try as I might, I couldn't flatten it. Finally I fell unconscious from the pain, the darkness a welcome relief.

I drifted in and out of consciousness, unsure how much time was passing. I dreamt about the past. The first dream I had was my mom teaching me to ride a bike with no training wheels. It was right after my dad left and my mom was trying to keep both of us busy so we didn't dwell on the fact that he was gone. She bought me a new bike with no training wheels and we spent the whole weekend outside. I remembered her brushing gravel and dirt from my knees and elbows when I fell, her encouraging words spoken softly to me when I wanted to quit, and most of all I remembered how happy and excited she was when I figured it out. Mom jumped up and down, clapping her hands with excitement as I rode down the street, laughing and smiling from ear to ear. It was the first time she'd laughed or smiled since dad had left, and I remembered feeling proud that I'd made her feel that way. When I woke, still hearing the echoes of mom's laughter in my mind, I was on my stomach. My back was bare, the tattered remains of my shirt and my unhooked bra folded against my sides so that only my back was bare, there was a warm damp towel covering it and from the waist down I was covered by a blanket. I folded my arms under my head and allowed myself to fall back into unconsciousness.

The second dream was of Simon and me. It was the night we'd camped out in his backyard when I was ten. We were laid out on a blanket outside of the tent calling out constellations. "I want to be an astronaut," I'd said. "I want to go to outer space."

"If you go to space I have to come too," Simon had replied. I laughed.

"Well duh. I wouldn't go without you."

Simon had smiled at me and then looked back to the sky with a delighted gasp.

"Look, a shooting star! Quick, make a wish!"

I remembered wishing that we'd always be friends. Always together. I woke again, my shoulder blades bare, my lower back covered by a towel that was mostly dry. I felt something tickling my exposed shoulder blades, but I lacked the energy to reach back and feel what it was.

The third dream I had was odd and hazy. It was a palace full of winged beings like Simon, but in different colors. There was a huge bonfire in the center of the room, with smoke leaking out of a hole in the ceiling. I could hear people talking but I couldn't make out what they were saying. But I saw someone speaking to me, someone with blue eyes and black hair. "Izabelle, my beautiful girl." I woke shocked and disoriented. I was covered by the same blanket that had covered my lower body since I'd woken up the first time, up to my lower back. The pain was gone, and I felt more relaxed than I'd felt since that first jolt of agony; however long ago that had been. My shoulders didn't tickle anymore either, but boy did they itch. I fell unconscious once more.

The fourth and final dream I had was another incident I'd had like my foot in the fire, but different. I'd been getting picked on by this boy at the park when I was six. He'd been taking my toys and refusing to give them back. I remembered crying and begging for the toys back and he would just laugh. Finally, I went from sad and hurt to angry, and I punched him in the nose. I felt cartilage crack under my little knuckles as blood spurted from his nostrils. A sense of satisfaction filled me as tears filled the bully's eyes and he started to wail. My mom scooped me up, grabbed my toys and we left, but I remember my dad's awed tone of voice when he said it was not normal for a six year old girl to be able to break a bully's nose. When I woke for the final time, I felt very well rested and ready to get up, if not a bit confused. And definitely ready to eat. I looked toward the door and saw Simon, passed out in a chair, his legs on either side of it and his head resting on his arms crossed over the back.

I clipped my bra behind my back, glad that Simon had opted to unhook it instead of cutting it, like he did my shirt. As I was hooking the last clip, I felt something soft brush my wrist and froze. Feeling panicked, I climbed out of the bed and ran over to the full length mirror on the other side of the room, sliding on my socks when I stopped in front of it. My jaw dropped and my hands flew to my shoulders, my stomach in my throat.

I admit that for the most part I looked the same. Same fair skin, same dark eyes, same black hair. But over my shoulders I could see wings, very similar to Simon's. They arched over my shoulders like his and hung down to my knees like his. Except where his were silver, mine were gold, and where the feathers on his were fluffy, like feathers in a down blanket, mine were sleek and sturdy; and when I reached my hand back and touched a feather, the edge of it sliced my finger open. I was hyperventilating before I knew it. I heard a whine and felt Ares rub his black face against my leg, his blue eyes looking up at me. I looked away from the-my- wings and met Simon's sleepy stare in the mirror. He'd moved quietly behind me, and as my panicked gaze connected with his, Simon brought one hand up and ran his fingers through my hair. The other hand ran a few fingers gently up and down my spine, between the wings, his gaze never leaving mine. I reached down with one hand and tangled my fingers in Ares' fur, right at the scruff of his neck as I started to relax, and reached back to grab one of Simon's hands.

It took a few minutes, but I was able to calm down, stop hyperventilating, and formulate words properly.

"How long was I out?"

"Two days."

"I grew huge wings, bone, muscle, and feathers in two days?"

Simon nodded and moved away, leaving the room. "You must be starving."

My stomach chose that moment to grumble. Loudly. And just like that, the tension in the room dissipated. Simon laughed, Ares' tongue lolled and I just shook my head, embarrassed, and followed Simon out of the room and into the kitchen for food.

"So have you put any thought into what we should do now?" I asked, taking a huge bite out of a sandwich I'd fixed.

Simon shrugged. "Well the first thing we'll have to do is figure out if we can control these things. They're attached by muscle and bone, so it's easy to assume that we should be able to learn how to use them like we did our legs and arms as babies. But before we can even do that I'll have to head to the nearest town and get you some shirts that can accommodate your new features."

I paused just before biting into my sandwich again, realizing that Simon had been careful not to look at me since we'd left the room. I looked down and yelped. I'd forgotten that I didn't have anything on except for a bra and some shorts.

I stood up abruptly, my appetite gone and my face burning, and practically fled the room.

"I'm going to put on a bathing suit and head outside."

"Your mom called," Simon called out after me. "You should call her back."

It might sound weird, but it felt much less intimate being around Simon in a bathing suit than in a bra, even though they covered about the same amount of skin.

Luckily, I'd packed string bikinis, so I didn't have to worry about straps.

Simon's parents owned all of the land around the lake that the cabin was built by, so I wasn't concerned about anyone seeing me. Ares ran passed me and straight into the lake. I'd spent weeks working with him when he was a puppy so that I didn't have to have him on a leash when we were out in a place like this. Typically huskies don't do well off leash, and to be honest if we were in the city I wouldn't risk him seeing a squirrel and taking off... Like he was doing now. I whistled and he turned around, running back to me, huffing with displeasure. I showed him the hollow ball I'd brought out with me and tossed it into the lake for him to play with. Then I found a large rock to sit on so I could start figuring out these new muscles and extremities.

I pulled my cell phone from my shorts pocket and called my mom back, seeing that I had one missed call from the previous night.

"Hey love, how's the beach?"

"It's good mom. Ares and I are having a blast."  
"That's always good. You're being safe right? Not going off with strange boys, not getting too drunk around people you don't trust, all that jazz." I rolled my eyes, smiling. Chicago was our favorite musical to watch together, and we both used "all that jazz" liberally.

"Of course mama. I haven't even really been drinking."

She scoffed. "Sure you haven't. I was drunk almost continuously for a week after I graduated high school."

I busted out laughing, crossing my legs and playing with my fingers as I got into the conversation.

We spoke for about an hour, just chit chatting about the beach and her high school experience versus mine before I finally told her I had to go, promised to call again the next day, and got back down to learning my new extremities.

I started small, trying to lift and lower the wings like I would shrug my shoulders. The hard part wasn't the actual muscle work, it seemed that, though the muscles were new, they were as strong as the rest of me. No, the hard part was isolating the new muscles in order to move them.

Once I could do that with little effort, I started moving one wing at a time, alternating between left and right. I'd never been more grateful for the dance and gymnastics lessons I'd taken. I'm not sure I would have had the focus to work with my new wings if not for the classes I'd taken, in which you kept trying until you got it right.

By the time I'd gained full control of the part of the wing that connected to my back, the sun had started to set, Ares had gone inside, and Simon had come outside to join me in my exercises.

"I went and bought tons of backless shirts for you. And let me just say, I got a lot of weird looks for it, so you'd better be grateful," Simon said when he first came outside.

I laughed, startled by his sudden presence. I turned to thank him for his trouble and saw that he wasn't wearing a shirt. Probably something I needed to get used to, but this was the first time I'd really noticed him shirtless since he'd been covered in blood over a week ago. This time there was no blood to distract me from his body.

Of course he was freaking magnificent.

I'd been wrong about the six pack, it was closer to eight, he had a well defined chest, broad shoulders and his biceps were the size of my thighs. His waist traveled down to narrow hips which disappeared into jeans that hugged his legs in all of the right places. Combined with the wings, square jaw, high cheekbones, long eyelashes and warm, open grey eyes, I had another moment of insanity. I wanted...

I just wanted.

And it scared me.

"Isabelle." Simon's voice was soft as he moved close to me. I glanced up to meet his gaze, and I saw that thing in his eyes again. If I had to put a name to it, I'd call it affection, but if that's all it was, why did it scare me so much? I'd never been and could never see myself as serious relationship material. Especially with Simon Lewis. I wasn't capable of giving all of myself , of putting everything I had into another person and Si deserved that. I just couldn't give someone, anyone, the power to break me.

Like my dad had broken my mom.

I stood up and took a step backwards, away from him. The tension between us could be cut with a knife. It was like I'd opened up a chasm between us with one step and I had no idea how to close it. Simon's eyes darkened and his expression went blank, leaving me to only wonder at what he was feeling.

I'd never had to wonder before.

"Si, I-"

"I know Iz," he said sadly. "I know."

Then he turned and walked back into the cabin.

Walked away from me.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

It took Simon three days to speak to me again, but when he did, he acted like nothing had happened. Typical guy.

I'd spoken to my mom each day, and I wasn't sure anymore who was checking on who. She seemed ok, maybe a bit lonely since the Lewis family were all out of town, but not falling apart, and that allowed me to relax more about leaving her. She just seemed to want to make sure that I wasn't doing anything stupid. She did say that there was something important she wanted to talk to me about when I got home. It made me nervous.

I'd been working on my exercises, moving my wings from top to bottom in a rolling motion and then bottom to top the opposite way, then I did it with each of them individually. And that only took me a day and a half to master. By the time he was ready to speak to me I felt like I had full control of them. I'd even gone swimming, laying on my back, wings spread out beneath me in the water, keeping me afloat. And then Simon came outside and told me his brilliant idea.

"I want to try flying."

I turned around sharply, feeling both exhilarated that he was speaking to me and disappointed that he just wanted to basically talk business. I recovered quickly, responding blandly, "I beg your pardon?"

"I know you heard me. I want to try flying."

And that's how I found myself standing on the roof of the two story cabin, staring down at the ground, debating whether or not I'd even survive if I didn't take off.

"This is a terrible idea."

A flask found it's way into my hands.

"Need some more liquid courage?" I could smell the tequila on his breath and laughed.

"I think you've had enough for both of us." I took a deep swallow anyway. "How'd you even get your hands on tequila? You're only nineteen."

"My dad is Mexican. There's always tequila in the house. In every house."

Jorge Lewis was a CEO of some big company, I can't remember which, so he was pretty wealthy. The man was extremely down to earth, so his only big splurges were vacation homes and top shelf tequila.

"Touché." I took another swallow and handed back the flask. "Am I going first?"

Simon jumped, his wings spreading open like a bird's. But he didn't fly. He glided down, moving forward until he dropped into the lake. I could hear his curses and splashing from the roof and lost my footing from laughing so hard. I barely remembered to curl my wings around myself before I hit the ground, getting the wind knocked out of me, but luckily that was all. I rolled onto my back and unfolded my wings from around my body and laughed breathlessly.

Before I could pull myself up, Simon was there. He grabbed my upper arms and pulled me to my feet, looking me over from head to toe.

"You're ok? Nothing's broken? God Izzy that was the scariest thing I've ever seen."

I was feeling pleasantly buzzed from the tequila and the adrenaline, so I pulled the flask from Simon's pocket and took another drink.

"Let's try again."

Two hours later we were finally starting to get the hang of things. Simon had managed to fly over the lake and come sit back on the roof, and I'd managed to actually leap off of the roof and stay afloat.

It was the most exciting thing I'd ever done, flying. Even though I couldn't stay in the air for very long, and even though it was terrifying, I never wanted to stop.

"Alright, hold my flask, I'm going again."

Simon laughed and waved me on encouragingly. I moved forward until my toes were at the edge of the roof and took a deep breath, flexing my wings, spreading them open as far as they could go. Instead of falling forward like I'd been doing for the past few hours, I tucked my wings close to my back, jumped straight up as high as I could go, and brought my wings down hard. I rocketed up into the sky and let out a laugh as the wind blew through my hair. I found myself wishing that I'd had these wings my whole life, because flying was pure freedom. There was nothing in the world like it; not sex, not food, not dancing or even tequila.

Flying was everything.

I could see mountains in the distance, the lake was like a beautiful coin below me, Simon's silver wings circling around above it, and trees for miles. I could also see a few other cabins in the distance. Which of course begged the question, could they also see me?

I had more control over my wings than Simon did, mainly because I'd spent so much time in the last few days learning them and exercising with them. I knew them well. Flying would ensure that I knew them as well as my legs or my arms. But during the day wasn't safe. I turned around, facing down towards the ground, and flapped my wings, flying down to Simon, I got his attention and landed on the side of the lake, bending my knees to take the impact of the landing. My shoes slid across the dirt as Simon landed next to me, much less gracefully.

I went inside, tossed a pillow on the floor next to Ares, and flopped down on top of it.

"We should only fly at night."

Simon was sitting in a chair, facing the back of it, his legs straddling the seat.

"Why?"

"I saw some houses in the distance when I was up there and I'm not sure if they could see me, but better safe than sorry. We should at least refrain from flying above the tree line during the day."

"That I can agree to," Simon said. "Not flying during the day at all isn't something I think I could stick with. Flying is…"

"Everything missing in life."

Never taking his eyes from mine, he responded, "Almost everything."

I looked away, rubbing Ares' head for comfort. I was hoping he'd just drop it, but of course Si was too stubborn for that.

"Why do you do that?"

"Do what?" I still refused to meet his eyes and he called me on it.

"You refuse to look at me or you run from me if I even hint at wanting more than friendship with you, but you look at me like you want it too."

"Si you're drunk. You wouldn't be saying any of this if you weren't."

"Simon. You only call me Si to keep me at a distance because it makes you think of me like I was when we were kids. I'm not quite drunk, and you're avoiding the question."

"You know the answer to your question Simon. I'm not relationship material. I can't give myself that way, and you deserve that."

"Oh enough Izzy. You might be able to convince others of that crap but I know you. You've never even tried. You keep everyone you date at a distance and you know I wont put up with that crap."

"Yes, I do, so what happens if we date and it doesn't work out? Our friendship is ruined and I'm not willing to risk that on a maybe."

"You're an idiot."

I shot to my feet. "Excuse me?"

"If you really think that our friendship would be ruined after trying to see if we could be anything more, you're an idiot. I've known you almost all my life Isabelle. Nothing could ruin our friendship. Not even you being stubborn and difficult because you're scared."

"My father left us when I was eight years old. He doesn't call, he doesn't visit except for huge milestones, he doesn't even text. He's just gone. He and my mom were married for ten years, together for fifteen, and one day he decided to cheat, and then decided that his.. Mistress.. Was worth more to him than our family."

"And my parents have been married for twenty five years. Your mom and dad aren't the rule for every relationship."

"Your parents are the exception Simon. All of my friend's parents were divorced or broken up; and even just people I knew in school and chatted with had divorced or split up parents. Love doesn't keep people together. Relationships don't last. So why give your heart to someone who's only going to break it?"

"Broken hearts heal. And putting yourself out there is better than sitting on the sidelines and wondering what could have been if you hadn't let fear run your life. If it's one thing my parents taught me it's that love doesn't keep people together, you're right about that. Staying together for that long takes work and a commitment to the other person that most people don't have or want to have."

He stood and started heading to the kitchen.

"My mom loved my dad so much that she hasn't dated in ten years, since he left." He stopped, but didn't turn around. "She gave him all of her heart, and he threw it in her face. Broken hearts don't always heal."

Simon sighed, hanging his head, and continued into the kitchen.

"I'm making burgers and fries. You hungry?"

And just like that, the conversation was over.

"I'm starving."

I spent the rest of the day with Ares, figuring it would be good to give Simon some space. We went for a run, and then cooled off in the lake before going back inside and taking a nap.

Simon woke me up later that evening by shaking my shoulder.

"It's dark. Let's go flying."

I stood, careful not to wake Ares, and followed Simon up to the roof.

"You first," I said, nudging him lightly.

He grinned at me, bent his knees and jumped, bringing his wings down and shooting into the sky with an, "Up, up, and away!"

Laughing, I followed him.

"You were watching me earlier I see," I shouted as I caught up to him.

"Of course," he shouted back. "You're a lot better at this than me."

"Hard work! Dedication! Race you!" I shouted, passing him and flying higher.

I looked down after a few hundred feet and saw him close on my heels, a huge smile on his face that I knew was mirrored on mine.

We climbed higher and higher, it got colder and harder to breathe, but it was so worth it. So much fun.

The wind whooshing by my ears prevented me from hearing anything else, including Simon's shouted warnings about the plane. All of a sudden I was in the path of bright lights. I looked to my left and locked eyes with the pilot, who had a look of pure shock on his face. I brought my wings down hard, trying to get out of its way before I was splattered across the plane's windshield like roadkill. Well, it'd be sky-kill I guess.

I thought I'd made it out of the way until I felt my left ankle snap. I froze briefly, my forward momentum from my last ditch effort to get out of the way the only thing keeping me from falling back on the plane and really being in trouble.

Once I was sure the plane had gone past, I turned to face the ground and started flying back to the cabin, trying to ignore the pain in my ankle. When I got low enough that I could see it, I spread my wings to slow my momentum, feet facing the ground again.

"Isabelle!" Simon was suddenly next to me and I realized that I'd probably been tuning him out for quite a while.

"Are you ok?" He asked, copying my wing movements so we were on eye level.

"Pretty sure my ankle is broken," I was able to gasp out through clenched teeth.

"Yeah you're right about that."

"I won the race."

A startled laugh escaped his lips and I tried to smile.

"Yeah, well, you were almost splattered across a windshield, so I think I'm ok with losing."

Simon landed before I did and wrapped my left arm around his neck, helping me support my weight when I set my right foot on the ground. Ares came running through the doggy door right up to us, whining and sniffing at my foot. I put my right hand in the fur at his neck as I passed and he walked next to me, helping support me as well.

Simon helped me onto the floor and headed towards the entertainment center.

"Lucky for us my dad keeps a ton of medical supplies here."

"Simon I need to go to the hospital. There's probably torn muscle and ligaments along with the broken bone."

I'd been careful not to look at my ankle since coming inside, but I'd felt it snap to the side when the plane hit it.

"And the wings? Are we telling the doctors that we're angels from heaven too injured to fly home and receive aid?"

"Is that what you think we are?" I asked, ignoring his sarcasm. It was his default setting when he was upset and I was used to it.

He shrugged, walking back to me with his arms full of some kind of tape to wrap my foot with, a brace, and two bulging socks.

"I have no idea what we are. I just know we're not human. Glaringly, obviously not human, so we have to avoid the general populace unless we can be sure that we're capable of hiding our wings. And hospitals tend to immediately have you put on their stupid revealing hospital gowns."

"What's with the socks?" I changed the subject, conceding to his point.

Simon dropped the tape and the brace, heading towards the kitchen with the socks. "They're full of rice. I'm putting one in the microwave for a heating pad, and the other in the freezer for an ice pack. We'll alternate them. There should already be one in the freezer so we'll always have a cold one."

"Look at you," I said, trying to lighten the mood. "All prepared and stuff."

He came back a minute later, two stuffed socks in his hands, and handed me a rag. I looked at it dubiously.

"What's this?"

"You're going to want to bite on that. This is going to hurt."

He sat in front of me and took my leg in one hand, my foot in the other. I gasped at the pain just from him moving my foot. I laid back so I couldn't see him or my foot, put the rag between my teeth, and gave Simon a thumbs up so he would know I was ready. Nothing happened. I waited, braced for the pain, for what felt like twenty minutes, but was probably closer to three or four, and still nothing happened. So I started to sit up and ask what was going on when I felt a sudden, sharp agony shoot up my leg. I collapsed back onto the floor, gasping through tightly clenched teeth, my body rigid.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Simon was chanting as he quickly wrapped the tape around my ankle and my foot. Once it was stable and unable to move, he put the brace over the tape and put the ice pack over my ankle. "I thought it would be better if you weren't expecting it.

It took a few minutes for the throbbing to dull enough for me to breathe normally. The ice started to permeate the thick brace and tape barrier that my ankle had and I was able to sit up. Lucas was petting Ares behind his ears and smiling.

"Do you remember when you first brought this furball home? When he was a little terror and-"

"Chewed up everything he could get his teeth on?" I laughed. "Yeah, wasn't that something? Now I know to keep him tired."

"A tired husky is a happy husky."

I nodded, suddenly exhausted.

Simon reached down and extended his hand. I put mine in his and let him pull me to my feet. He slung my arm around his neck and helped me limp into one of the bedrooms, where I plopped face-first onto the bed and was asleep before my body stopped bouncing.

I woke up the next morning to Simon shaking me, again.

"I'm still tired Simon," I mumbled, scooting away from him.

"Someone's here," He whispered back urgently.

That woke me up better than a Rockstar would have. "What?"

"I hear the car driving up now. If you focused, I bet you'd hear it too."

I shut my eyes and focused on what I could hear. Ares' panting breaths, two heartbeats, birds and crickets outside, the wind in the trees and… car tires over gravel.

"What are we going to do?" I asked, opening my eyes.

"Did you bring a coat?" I shook my head. "Then you stay up here with Ares. I'll see who they are and what they want. They might just be lost."

Simon didn't look like he believed that anymore than I did. He turned and ran into the room he was staying in, and by the time the first knock came to the door, he was passing my doorway with jeans, his coat, and boots on. The door opened.

"Good morning. How can I help you gentlemen?"

I closed the door most of the way, leaving it open a crack, and crouched behind it, Ares sitting next to me.

"May we come in Mr. Lewis?"

"How do you know my name?" Simon demanded, all kindness gone from his voice.

"I know a great many things son. And I make it my business to know about the… people I'm going to be talking to."

At that moment, I realized that he knew we weren't human. I just had no way to tell Simon and I hoped that he'd caught onto that little hesitation like I had.

"We can talk here then," Simon said, and I could practically see him leaning against the door frame, blocking the visitors passage inside.

"As you wish. My name is Valentine Morgenstern. I run the PENS organization. That's the-"

"People for the Eradication of Never ending Starvation. Yeah, I've heard of you guys. What do you want with me?"

"Well, Simon, to put it simply, I want you and your friend in there to join our cause and help us fight hunger."

"I don't know who you're referring to, nor do I have any idea how I'm supposed to help you."

"Well kid, that's the fun part-"

"Enough with the degrading nicknames. Would you like it if I referred to you as 'old man' or 'grandpa?"

There was an awkward, tense silence before the man, Valentine, laughed. "I like you Simon. You've got heart. I hope that you, at least decide to work with us. At least you're not a coward, like your friend Isabelle apparently is."

My blood boiled, rage and embarrassment flowing through me so swiftly that before I knew what I was doing, I was in the hallway, limping down the stairs with one hand on the wall, the other on the banister. Ares, of course, was beside me.

"Injured, not a coward." I said from the bottom of the stairs. Simon came over and helped me limp to the table where I sat straddling a chair. His jaw was clenched and his entire posture radiated disapproval.

"Ah, Isabelle Lightwood. We meet at last," said another voice. A boy came around the corner with Valentine. They looked alike The new voice had white-blonde hair and dark eyes, angular cheekbones and a slender frame, just like Valentine.

"Do I know you?" I asked, trying to keep my wings as close to me as possible, hoping he wouldn't notice them. My impulsiveness sometimes astounded me. Damned pride.

"My name is Jonathan Morgenstern; I'm his son," he said pointing at Valentine. "And I've heard many good things about you."

"How?" I got right to the point. "And what do you want with us?"

"Well your skills of course," Jonathan said, waving his hands dramatically. "You have to have realized by now that you're more than human. You're stronger, faster, more resilient than humans, and your capabilities will help with disposing of those who would keep food from those in need."

"So you need us to be mercenaries," Simon stated from beside me, crossing his arms over his chest, coat still on.

"Mercenary is such an ugly word," Valentine started.

"But that's what you need," I finished. He turned to me and for a moment his eyes were cold and full of hate before suddenly they weren't and I was left wondering if I'd imagined the look. He nodded.

"That's what we need."

"Well find yourself different attack dogs. We won't do it."

"Don't you want answers?" Valentine asked, his voice dropping in a way that was charming and seductive. "What you are? Who your real parents are? Where you can go and not be persecuted…"

"Wait, real parents?" I asked. I knew that I shouldn't, that I was only putting power in his hands, but I couldn't help myself.

"Yes," Valentine nodded. "You were both adopted. Your mother, Isabelle, used to work for us, so when we came across two harpy babies, she and your father were only happy to take one once we'd studied you a bit. And her best friend Jose and his wife Susan took the other."

"Harpies? Now I know you're full of it. Harpies are winged bird-ladies. And they're ugly. I've studied mythology," Simon snapped, taking a look at my wounded expression.

"I do concede that they're winged, but look at Isabelle and tell me that she's anything else. And they are primarily women. Now tell me, do you think a prideful man back in those days who'd gotten his behind handed to you by a woman with wings would tell everyone she was gorgeous?"

Simon was silent.

"Get out," I whispered. I couldn't believe that all these years my mom… Samantha… had never told me that I was adopted.

"What? But-" Valentine and Jonathan looked shocked at my outburst.

"Get out!" I shouted. "I don't care what answers you have for us, I don't care if you say you have a safe haven for us, I don't care how much money you're going to pay us, leave!"

"And don't come back," Simon said, backing me up like always.

Valentine got that look on his face again. Full of calculated loathing. He and Jonathan both stood up and left the room, Jonathan's eyes full of pity, then they left the cabin, the door slamming behind them.

"Iz," Simon said, coming over to stand in front of me. Then he turned his head sharply toward the back door just as I heard Valentine's voice faintly from outside.

"Burn it down."

"Get down!" Simon shouted, pulling me off of the chair and pushing me underneath the table with Ares just as all of the windows on the first story, and probably the second story, smashed inwards, bottles with flaming rags landing all over the house and setting everything in their path on fire.


	4. Chapter 4

I screamed as the flames raced passed me, Simon, Ares, and the table we were under.

"Why are they trying to kill us?" I shouted.

"I don't know," Simon shouted back. "I heard him saying something about us turning on him… something about Jonathan's sister Clary. But the fire is too loud."

"Can you see a way out?"

Something exploded outside before Simon could answer, and horror covered his face. "My bike… your car…" he cursed violently in Spanish, balling his hands into fists and putting them over his eyes.

"We have to get upstairs." I grabbed one of Simon's hands and I grabbed Ares by the scruff of his neck and started limping towards the stairs as quickly as I could. Simon recovered from his shock and fear quickly and pulled my arm over his shoulder, helping us move faster and avoid the flames.

We started climbing the stairs just as the fire reached where we'd been sitting underneath the table. I limped into my room, pulled a short sleeved shirt on around my wings and some yoga pants around my brace and started throwing clothes, dog treats, money, and a couple bones and chew toys into Ares' doggy backpack, hooking him into it before going into Simon's room, grabbing a couple pairs of jeans and socks and stuffing those into Ares backpack also.

I shoved my hiking boots into Simon's arms and started moving towards the window.

The glass shattered inward as a figure barreled into the room, which was a quickly filling with smoke. Simon cursed violently in Spanish, calling the Morgenstern men all sorts of rude names. The figure straightened and I stepped back in shock, almost crumbling to the ground as I put weight on my injured ankle.

"Amy?"

She grinned, red hair like flames on top of her head as her ponytail swayed in the breeze.

"It's Clary actually. Sorry I couldn't come forward with any of this earlier, but it's not like you would have believed me anyways."

"But… you.. I don't understand," I stuttered, but I kind of did. She'd always been a bit secretive about her home life and her family. Now I knew why.

"We can hash things out later," Simon interrupted. "I know your name Clary. You're Jonathan's sister. Valentine wanted to keep you away from us, so in my book you're an ally. Can you help Iz to the window? I'll carry Ares."

Amy-Clary nodded, moving towards me as Simon lifted Ares into his arms and went to the window, leaping out of it and up into the air. Right as she reached me, the floor beneath me gave out from the flames, causing me to plummet into the flames.

"Izzy!"

I screamed, expecting to feel flames licking at my skin. The runner up on my list of worst ways to die was by being burned alive, and I expected it to happen as I landed in the center of the flames. My bandages burned, my clothes burned, my sneakers burned… but my skin didn't. I reached my arm out, in the hottest of the flames and watched the fire flicker over my skin. It didn't hurt. I could feel it, like a silk caress, but it didn't hurt, and I remembered again that time as a teenager when I stood in the bonfire with Simon while drunk. How the flames didn't hurt me then either, and I understood. I felt something shift deep within me. Deeper than flesh, deeper than muscle or ligament, deeper even than bone. The fire revitalized me. I felt the pain in my ankle dim and then disappear all together, I felt the fire seep into my soul, I felt connected to it. The fire was mine to control. I was the fire, the fire was me. We were one. I stood, no longer limping or unstable, bent my knees and jumped, bringing my wings down hard. I shot through the hole in the ceiling, crossed my arms over my head, broke through the roof of the cabin and flew into the sky.

Suddenly Clary was there, grabbing my hands but looking like she wanted to fling her arms around my neck.

"I thought you were dead!"

"Apparently fire doesn't hurt me."

She yanked her hands out of mine, looking at them in shock and pain.

"Um, ow? Your skin just burned me." Clary looked awed.

"What?" I asked. "How do you have wings?" I asked, just noticing them. They were the same color as her skin, darkening towards the tips. Clary shook her head, nodding her head towards the trees.

"Later. We have to follow Simon, find the clearing with my stuff and get as far from here as possible." Her gaze traveled down my body so quickly that if I wasn't looking at her face I wouldn't have seen it. "And you need some clothes."

I looked down at my nude body and sighed. I crossed my arms over my chest and followed Clary to where I could see Simon in the distance. As I got closer to him, he had a look of shock and awe on his face and I had a feeling I knew what he was thinking.

"That was like in Game of Thrones.." Yup, just like I thought. "The girl with the dragons and immune to the fire.. What was her name?"

"If you call me by her name I'm not responsible for my actions."

"Are you going to start going around and freeing slaves in other countries?" Simon asked with a smirk.

I flipped him the bird. "Can we find Clary's stuff so you can put Ares down and I can put some clothes on?"

Simon averted his gaze, turning his head away from me. "Sure."

We flew for about ten minutes, staying beneath the tree line so as to not be seen, and landed in a clearing with a huge backpack. As we neared the ground, Clary's wings disappeared and she landed in a roll before coming to her feet and pulling her backpack onto her shoulders. Simon landed next, putting Ares and my hiking boots on the ground and turning his back, allowing me some privacy. I landed last, tentatively putting weight on my formerly broken ankle, before whistling to Ares and heading into the trees.

"Don't go to far," Clary called to me. "They're going to be looking for us soon and we need to stick together."

I gave her a thumbs up and went behind the closest tree. I pulled a shirt, socks, and some yoga pants from Ares' backpack, glad that I'd thought to bring it out here, and got dressed.

"I brought you a present," Clary said, tossing something at me. It was one of those sticky bras that didn't have straps or clasps. I thanked the universe for friends who understand you and put it on.

"So what's the plan? Where are we going now?" I asked as I got dressed.

"My mom owns some property close enough that we can be there by tonight if we keep moving."

"If you're Valentine's daughter then any property your mom owns he also owns right?" Lucas asked.

"No. They're….. Not together."

I raised an eyebrow at her, knowing from the repeated taps of her toe in the dirt that there was more to it than that. "And?" I asked.

"Look, it's complicated. And not fun to talk about."

"Un-complicate it then. I think I deserve an explication don't you?"

"I save your life and you give me guilt trips. Unbelievable," Clary sighed.

"Well it was your dad who just tried to kill us so…"

"Long story short I'm not completely human. My father is human, my mom is a wolf shifter."

"I'm sorry, a what now?" I couldn't keep the shock from my voice if I'd tried.

"This is why I didn't want to have this conversation now. Let's start moving. I'll talk while we walk."

Simon and I hesitated for a moment, looking at each other before silently agreeing to follow Clary.

"So what do mean by shifter? It is pretty self explanatory but explain it anyway please," Simon asked as we left the clearing.

"I'll spare you the boring details of how our species supposedly came to be and just say that we're humanoid beings that can turn into other things. My mom's family has always been wolves. Since my brother and I are half human we can do things a bit differently than full blooded shifters."

"Like the wings?" I asked. "Those aren't natural to you right?"

"Right. I can change my appearance too. My hair color, my eye color, my facial features… but I can't hold the change for very long. I can't stay in my animal form for very long either. The downside of being half human."

"So what's the issue with your dad and your brother?" Simon asked.

Clary went quiet. Her shoulders sagged and her hands clenched on the straps of her backpack.

"My mom loved my dad," she started finally. "But she was betrothed to someone else. It was an arranged marriage. She tried to run away to be with my dad, and for a few years she'd succeeded. But when I was little, her family found us. My dad and my brother were at Jonathan's t-ball practice when they came. My mom wouldn't tell them where my dad and my brother were, so they just took us. When I was thirteen I was sent to monitor you, Iz to see if you were who we thought you were, and I went to find my father in secret. I found out about his PENS business, which actually stands for People for the Eradication of Nonhuman Species, and I found out from Jonathan that mom's family left a note stating that she'd taken me and left them to be with the man her family wanted her to marry. Dad became so bitter that he decided anyone not human couldn't be trusted. His crusade to end world hunger is a front for killing of any non human, humanoid species. He claims that we're using up too many natural resources and the earth can't sustain us all, he's even got fake statistics and falsified studies to back him up so that the people in his inner circle believe him. He recruits people like us, and when those people start seeing that they're only killing non humans and inevitably try to quit, he kills them. Or if they refuse, he kills them."

"Like he tried to do to us," Simon muttered.

"Exactly. If you're not with him you're against him. He calls us all abominations, and I've been tracking his movements, trying to save as many of us as possible while still keeping an eye on you Isabelle."

"Why am I so special?" I muttered.

"You mean my father didn't brag about it?" Clary spat the word father like a curse. "You're the queen's daughter. The harpies are a matriarchal society. You're very special indeed."

I froze for a moment before continuing after Clary.

"Ignoring the fact that I'm basically a princess, are Harpies and Shifters the only not human species around?"

"Nope. There are tons of different kinds of fairy type creatures, there's the elves, and of course the Valkyrie."

"What's a Valkyrie?" Simon asked.

"They're actually pretty similar to harpies. Winged immortal human like creatures with superior speed, strength and healing. But where Harpies can control the elements and some can see ghosts and raise the dead, Valkyrie powers are more mental. Telekinesis, telepathy, empathy.. Some can produce shields, some can manipulate technology. I've even heard that some Valkyrie never forget anything, ever."

"Like an eidetic memory?"

"Yes," Clary snapped her fingers. "That's what its called. But you guys don't have to worry too much about the Valkyrie, the harpies and Valkyrie are not very happy with each other right now."

"Why?" I asked.

"Each race thinks that the other is responsible for the missing children. My mom and Luke keep trying to tell them about my dad but without solid proof they don't believe us. They think my dad is just taking elf, shifter and fairy babies, not all Zyrix babies, because before you guys I hadn't rescued any harpy or Valkyrie babies."

"Zyrix?" Simon questioned. It was pronounced exactly how it was spelled, with an emphasis on the "rix."

"Yeah, all of us, the shifters, the elves, the fae, harpies and Valkyrie as a group are called Zyrix. Anyway you two can go back home with me, we'll get you to Harpy Island and you can tell the queen about my dad. Maybe she'll listen to you."


	5. Chapter 5

We walked for hours, Clary telling us about the different species of Zyrix and how they get along or don't get along.

We stopped a couple of times to eat jerky and drink water that Clary had thought to bring for us. We were sitting around drinking water and resting for a few minutes when Ares was finally comfortable enough to go check her out.

"I'm surprised it took him this long to come say hi to me," she commented, smiling as she rubbed his head.

"He's wary of strangers, and we've never hung out at my house."

Clary tilted her head to the side, furrowing her eyebrows.

"What?" I asked. "Is he ok?"

"He's a misce…"

"A what?"

Clary hesitated for answering. "Every once in a blue moon a shifter man will leave home and spend time in the wild to prove to his family that he can survive on his own. The women do it too, but the men have been known to… be with… some of the animals they come across. Wolf shifters lie with wolves, fox shifters lie with foxes… you get the picture. Even more rare it's been heard that a wolf shifter will be with a dog and that dog will have puppies… that are half shifter but can't shift. Your dog is the puppy of one of those hybrids."

"How can you tell?" Simon asked.

"Like calls to like. I always know when another shifter is around, and any touch lets me know who that shifter is."

"That's gross dude," I said, scrunching my nose.

"It is gross. It's hugely discouraged, but nobody knows how to punish those who do it."

"Yeah you've got me there. What does it mean for Ares? Being a misce."

"He's more intelligent than a normal dog, he should understand most if not all of the things you say to him, he'll live much longer, about a human lifetime, and misce only really bond with one being in their whole lives. He loves you. He'll always love you, and he'll protect you and your space where a normal husky loves everyone and would allow anyone near for belly rubs and cheese."

Simon and I laughed.

"So he's technically a wolfdog," I said, motioning Ares over and rubbing his chest.

"Technically."

Clary pushed herself to her feet and brushed the dirt off of her shorts. "Let's get moving. We're almost there."

We came to a river a few miles later and Clary stopped us at the bank.

"Is Ares's backpack waterproof?" She asked.

"Yeah. He likes to swim so it made sense."

"Do you trust me with him?" She asked. I hesitated before answering. Ares was more than my dog, he was family. I slowly nodded.

"I trust you."

"Ok. If you get into the river, right there between those two rocks is an opening. Follow it. It'll take you to a cave lit by torches. There's a house built into the wall. I'll follow you with Ares."

"I'll go first," Simon said stepping into the water in front of me. He crouched down, pushed himself between the two stones that Clary had pointed out, and disappeared. I knelt next to Ares, looked him in his eyes and, now knowing that he could understand me, said "Listen to Clary for now. I'll see you in a minute." I kissed his nose, stepped into the water and submerged. Underneath the water I could feel the slight pull of the current coming from between the rocks. Tucking my wings close, I pulled myself between them, kicking my feet to push myself through, and followed the tunnel. It widened after the initial narrow opening, allowing me to open my wings just enough so that I could use them to propel myself forward through the water. It was pitch black and I couldn't see anything, so I kept one hand on the side of the tunnel and the other in front of me, relying only on my legs and my wings to move forward. In no time at all I could see light and the blurry waves of the surface.

The tunnel widened and then my head breached the surface of the water, allowing me to take a deep breath of surprisingly fresh air. Wiping my hand over my eyes so that water didn't get into them I continued to tread water as I opened my eyes.

The first thing I saw was Simon standing on the stone ground, his chest bare as he wrung the excess water from his coat, jeans clinging lovingly to his legs. The cave was beautiful, lit by torches and thousands of crystals embedded in the walls and the ceiling that reflected the fire light; the house was impressive, seemingly carved by a master, sturdy looking and mostly hidden in the wall of the cave, but I couldn't concentrate on any of that, as focused as I was on watching Simon's muscles move beneath his skin as he finished wringing out his coat.

"Damn," a voice whispered from behind me. "Now that's a sight for sore eyes."

I flinched so hard that water went spraying everywhere. I turned around in the water and came face to face with a smirking Clary. Ares was swimming away towards the shore and Clary was doing something with her hands and legs underneath the water. When I raised an eyebrow at her she laughed.

"It's easier to swim with a fish tail than legs. But you don't exactly get to wear pants with fish fins."

It was my turn to laugh as I swam towards Simon and Ares, trying to pretend I hadn't just been caught ogling Si.

"So what's the plan from here?"

"Well tonight I'm not doing anything after I get in touch with my mom except eating and sleeping. Tomorrow we'll meet up with some more Zyrix to help me make sure I get you two back to shifterville."

"Is that really what your home is called?" Simon asked, snickering.

"No, it's some weird Latin name meaning Land of Two Souls. But I think shifterville fits just fine."

I laughed. "Shifterville and Harpy Island. What's next? Fairy peninsula? Elven Mountain?"

"The original Zyrix who founded the lands we all live on now were not very creative," Clary said, laughing.

She led us into the house, through an open archway straight into what was obviously a living room. I was surprised at how cozy it was. There was a comfortable looking sectional couch against one wall, a bookshelf against another, and the floor was covered with a plush rug.

"Is that a TV?" Simon asked excitedly, coming into the house after me.

"Huh? Oh, yeah it is," Clary said. "Just because we're not human doesn't mean we don't enjoy watching movies and stuff."

"Dude," Simon drew out the 'u' as he sprawled out across the couch. "How do you get electricity?"

"Magic," Clary said giggling and wiggling her fingers. Simon rolled his eyes and I found myself annoyed at Clary's obvious flirting. I walked further into the house and found a fully functional kitchen through another archway. In the refrigerator was sliced turkey breast, whole wheat bread, like four gallons of water, a whole, cooked grocery store chicken, and peanut butter.

Through another archway was a set of stairs, and at the top was a hallway with five doorways covered with curtains. I peeked into each and was, again, surprised at how cozy and welcoming this stone house was. Each room had a plush rug, a king sized bed, a mirror, and a different scenic painting.

In the room all the way at the end of the hallway, Ares was curled up on the carpet next to the bed, still in his backpack and collar.

"Come here sweet boy," I said, kneeling on the carpet in front of him. He got up long enough to allow me to take off his collar and backpack, and I coaxed him onto the bed with me to sleep.

"Izzy."

I heard my name as though from the end of a long tunnel.

"Izzy."

I groaned and blinked my eyes open, coming face to face with Lucas.

"Hmmm?"

"Wake up. You need to eat."

I shook my head, cuddling closer to Ares.

His hand came down on my shoulder.

"Iz you haven't eaten anything in over 24 hours. You need food, and water. I will dump river water on you."

Sucking my teeth, I lifted myself up and climbed from the bed. Ares followed us out of the room and back into the kitchen where there was a literal mountain of turkey sandwiches on the small table. There was also a big metal bowl full of shredded chicken for Ares, along with another bowl filled to the top with water.

"So, how are you feeling?" Simon asked me as I bit into my first sandwich. I shrugged. He poked me, causing me to flinch and glare at him. I finished my sandwich before speaking.

"I don't know how I'm feeling. On the one hand, I understand why my…. Samantha didn't tell me that I was adopted. I would have asked questions about my birth parents that she couldn't exactly answer without sounding crazy. But at the same time I feel like she should have told me. I feel like my entire childhood is a lie now. And it hurts so much more that my dad left us because I wonder if it's in any way because of me. His new wife was able to give him biological kids and I wonder if he left my mom because she couldn't."

I bit into another sandwich before I could start to cry. Simon sat next to me and put his arm around my shoulders. I swallowed thickly and put my sandwich down. Simon pulled my head to his shoulder and rubbed my arm.

"Samantha might not have given birth to you, but she loves you. I've known you guys my whole life and I've seen how much. She should have told you, but her keeping it to herself doesn't mean she doesn't love you."

"I know," I said, tears leaking from my eyes without my permission. "I just feel like she didn't trust me enough to believe that it wouldn't matter to me."

"Of course it matters to you. But it doesn't make you love her any less either."

I nodded, sniffling and wiping my face.

"How about you?" I asked, trying to get the attention off of me.

He shrugged. "The way I see it, my parents wanted a baby and there I was. I had a great upbringing, amazing parents, and I've always felt wanted. I wish they would have told me, but I'm not angry that they didn't."

I snorted, sitting up and reaching for my sandwich. "You're so logical."

"You say that like it's a bad thing," Simon said, laughing.

We sat in comfortable silence and made our way through the sandwich mountain.

"Where's Clary?" I asked once I was full.

"Pretty sure she's asleep. She went upstairs earlier and I haven't seen her since."

I hesitated before speaking again, trying to put my scattered thoughts into words.

"How are you handling this whole 'we're not really human' thing?"

Simon sighed deeply, mumbling words in Spanish that I had no idea the meaning of.

"Not so well. You read all of these books and see all of these shows and movies about how bad and evil a lot of non human creatures are, and then you find out that you're one of them… it's hard. Especially since there's a literal hate group that exists with the sole purpose of wiping us out. It makes me nervous about meeting other Harpies and other Zyrix. I have no clue what they're going to be like. Will we even be accepted after being raised by humans? What about our birth parents? Will they even want to know us? Will we be the red headed step children of the Zyrix world? Will we be like Prince Zuko? A firebender but not a firebender, but no other kind of bender either?"

I snorted. "You're such a nerd."

"And yet you got the reference, so what does that make you."

"A nerd."

Simon laughed, some of the tension leaving his shoulders.

"So did Clary tell you anything about these other Zyrix we're supposed to be meeting?" I asked.

"A little. She said that Amaya and Liam are friends of her cousin and that Amaya should understand what we're going through right now, but didn't elaborate on that." He rolled his eyes. "She also said that there's a sorcerer coming with them who's a friend and who will help keep us hidden. There's supposed to be a harpy with them, but she didn't tell me anything about them."

I rolled my eyes. "Lovely."

"We should get some sleep. We're supposed to be getting up early to go meet them."

"Yeah."

I was not ready to get up. I should have been, I'm used to getting up early, but for some reason, most likely stress, I was not ready to get up the next morning.

"Izzy I'm going to jump on you," Clary said. "We have a bit of a hike to get out of here so we have to go. Now."

I whined and turned my head away from her.

"I got this," I heard Simon say just before I felt freezing cold water hit my skin. Shrieking, I leapt from the bed, glowering at Simon and Clary.

"I hate you," I grumbled, teeth chattering as they roared with laughter. After I changed we went back down to the living room where Clary pushed the tv to the side, opening a panel that had blended in perfectly with the rock. I moved to head through the opening but Simon put a hand on my shoulder, stopping me in my tracks, and moved forward ahead of me. I rolled my eyes and followed behind him, Ares by my side like always. When Clary closed the panel, a bunch of will-o-wisp like night lights lit up at our feet on either side of the tunnel. From what I could see, it went on for miles.

We'd been walking for about two hours when we came to the end of the tunnel. Most of the walk had been done in silence, since it was so early in the morning, but when we got to the end, Simon sighed loudly in relief as Clary slipped passed us and opened a hidden hatch that loosed another panel. We came out of the passage way into another forest, and when I turned around, we'd come out of a tree. After Clary closed the panel, I couldn't even tell the difference between that tree and the hundreds around us.

"How do you find it again?" I asked as we headed in a direction that seemed random to me. Clary tapped her nose.

"One of the good things about being a shifter, half or full, we get the enhanced senses of whatever animal we shift into. So I can smell the dampness of the tunnel and our smells coming from it."

"That's convenient."

"Where are we going now?" Simon asked. "I thought we were supposed to be meeting other Zyrix."

"We are," Clary said. "We need to head west. That's the direction they're coming from."

"I'm so tired of walking."

"Dude," I said in agreement. I was pretty sure I was getting blisters.

Suddenly Ares stopped walking, a deep rumbling growl erupting from his chest, the fur on his spine spiked up high. He peeled his lips back from his teeth, eyes on the treetops ahead of us. Simon moved to one side of me, Clary stepped behind me, one hand going behind her neck under her backpack. I saw Clary take a deep breath and then relax, dropping her hand.

"It's ok guys , it's exactly who we were waiting on."

And then a man dropped from the sky.

I jumped, scrambling behind Ares, who went crazy , barking and planting his front paws ready to attack at the first sign of aggression from the mystery man. Clary said he was on our side, but I didn't know who he was, so I was wary, and Ares could pick up on my unease. The man was wearing jeans and sneakers, which surprised me for some reason, and no shirt. The first thing I noticed was curly black hair falling into his eyes. And then he stood up and looked at me.

It was like looking into a mirror. Same black hair, though his was short; same fair skin, though his was much more sun kissed; same golden wings, same shaped eyes, and I'm sure that mine were just as wide and just as astonished as his were.

"Uh, Iz? Did you suddenly turn into a dude?"

I elbowed Simon in the stomach and patted Ares on the side.

"Hush big boy. I think this ones ok."

His growling immediately stopped with a lick of his lips and a swish of his tail.

"Got yourself quite the protector there don't you little sister?"

I could only nod, still too shocked by this guys existence to speak to him. He turned his attention to Clary for a moment.

"Clary."

"Alexander. Good to see that everyone made it safely. Where are the others?"

"Close. I… couldn't wait," he said turning his attention back to me.

"I'm so going to hurt you," I muttered turning to Clary, who was smirking. She shrugged unapologetically.

"I couldn't resist the surprise. Mostly to see the look on your face. And it was worth it. Izzy, meet your twin brother."

"You didn't tell her about me?" Alexander asked sounding exasperated looking over at Clary. Then he grinned. "I have a surprise for you Clare." He tilted his head to the side. "It should be here soon."

It took my brain a moment to process what I was seeing. It was the size of a large horse, with purple scales in various hues and eyes like glimmering obsidian. I took in the claws, the smoke wafting from its nostrils and the long slim snout and almost passed out.

A dragon stood before me.

Getting off of its back was a man with long thick hair down his back and brown skin. He had a backpack over one massive shoulder and as he climbed down to the ground he was ushering the dragon back behind the trees.

Alexander came close to me and put a hand on my shoulder. I turned to him and he had a sad smile on his face.

"I know this must be a bit overwhelming for you."

"Dude you have no idea."

His smile became more amused than sad. "Clary told her mother that you're immune to fire? That it doesn't hurt you?"

I nodded, glad for something to talk with my brother about.

"What does that mean?"

"All harpies have an affinity for an element or an affinity for spirits and the dead."

"Cheerful," I muttered. Alexander laughed. I noticed that he even laughed like I did, head thrown back in mirth.

"It's not as bad as it sounds."

"What the hell…" I heard the wonder in Simon's voice and turned to see what had caught his attention. It was a girl, no dragon in sight.

Her eyes were purple.

I turned to Alexander with my jaw practically on the floor.

"Is she the.."

He nodded, chuckling at my reaction.

"Amaya, my sister.."

"Izzy," I said, offering a hand for her to shake.

She smiled and hugged me instead. I looked quizzically at Simon over her shoulder, who laughed at me.

"It's so good to meet another Zyrix who was raised thinking they were human. I cant even tell you how annoying it is being the only one."

"You thought you were human? But how when you can turn into a dragon?" Simon asked. I was also curious, but I now understood why Clary said that she would understand our situation better than most.

"That, amigo, is a story for another day."

"Hablas espanol?" Simon asked excitedly.

"Si."

"Christ," I sighed looking to Clary. "Simon just found a new best friend."

She laughed. "As long as he's not looking for anything more than that out of her. Liam would take offense." When I raised an eyebrow in confusion at the new name, she gestured to the big guy with the long hair who was standing at the edge of the trees, watching Amaya and Simon speak in Spanish. "He's not a people person."

"It's not that I'm not a people person," Liam said without looking at us. "It's that other Zyrix aren't exactly welcoming to me when I show up."

I was about to ask why when two more beings showed up. Literally just walked between two trees from nowhere.

"I hate portals," the more slender of the two spoke first.

"Don't piss off the person flying you and next time you won't be dropped on your ass Jace."

"Piss off Michael," Jace snapped before catching sight of Clary and coming up short.

I saw Clary stand straighter, smoothing her hair back before she caught herself and glared at Alexander, who smiled innocently.

"Clary and Jace have been pretending they're not into each other for years. It's hilarious to watch."

"Huh," I said, crossing my arms. "I thought she was into Simon."

Alexander glanced over at Simon, who was looking at Clary in amusement.

"He doesn't seem too broken up about it."

I shrugged.

Alexander removed his arm from my shoulders and went up to Simon. It was interesting seeing them standing together. Blue eyes clashed with brown, bare skin glistened in the sun, wings large and broad, but different.

"Simon right?"

"Yup."

Alexander stood there stoically for a moment, looking as though he was sizing Simon up, while Simon stood their silently, hands at his sides, refusing to be intimidated. Finally, Alexander smiled and offered Simon his hand.

"Nice to meet you, and thanks for keeping an eye on my sister. Call me Alec."

Simon grinned back and shook his hand.

"We should get moving," Clary said, tearing her eyes from Jace. "My father should be realizing that you guys aren't dead soon. He'll have his pet Zyrix searching the rubble if he hasn't already and once he realizes you're gone he'll be searching the entire state for you guys."

"Yeah, yeah. The harbinger of death is neigh," I sighed. "Let's go."


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

"So where exactly are we going?" I asked.

"And where the hell are we at now?" Simon asked right after.

"We're back in California, and right at this moment we're heading into San Bernardino to get some vehicles. There's a safe house in Chula Vista that we can rest at before we head across the ocean and home," Alec said from between us.

I had a sudden flash of Samantha's face and felt a flash of fear.

"Will there be a phone there?" I asked. "I forgot my cell when the cabin caught fire and I need to call my mom."

I caught Clary exchange a glance with Alec and looked at Simon, who had an eyebrow raised.

"Yeah," Alec said finally. "There's a phone there."

It took us about an hour to get close enough to the city that the majority of us had to hang back while Simon handed Alec his coat and he, Michael, Jace, Clary and Amaya went to find a used vehicle dealership, leaving Simon and me with Liam.

"So why aren't other Zyrix welcoming to you?" I finally asked the question I'd been wanting to ask sooner. Liam grinned as though he knew how much the curiosity had been eating at me.

"Long story short, sorcerers used to be a problem like PENS is a problem now, but they only knew about shifters existence. So they would kidnap us, usually as babies after they got rid of our parents, experiment on us and… well… other things. When I was a teenager Michael helped me escape, and he became my family. The other Zyrix couldn't, and still cant, understand how I can trust a sorcerer after everything their kind has done to mine, so they're wary of me, and of Michael, even though we helped dismantle the sorcerer's society and the new leaders have them living on the same continent as the rest of us."

"Shouldn't your loyalty be rewarded?" Simon asked, and I agreed.

"It's considered loyalty to the wrong person. It's widely assumed that he'll betray me someday, even after all of these years. So we tend to take missions rescuing other Zyrix and bringing them home or monitoring areas in the human world that a lot of Zyrix live in to make sure everyone's safe."

For some reason that made me sad. How exhausting, to always have your loyalty questioned, just because of the way you were born. No place to go home to, just a life of wandering.

"How many years has it been?"

"Five I think. Yeah, I was twenty and Amaya was seventeen when everything went down, but Michael and I have been extracting Zyrix for about ten years."

"God," Simon breathed, and I knew we were thinking the same thing. Ten years with no home. No possessions except for the clothes on your back and maybe a backpack. No family, one or two friends. No stability whatsoever.

Liam laughed at our expressions.

"It's not so bad. Amaya usually comes with me, and once we get you home princess, we'll both finally be allowed to put down roots with no judgement.

I smiled. "No pressure on you or anything."

Liam laughed.

"We've handled worse. Amaya and her twin Adrian are the last dragon shifters alive, and Clary's cousin who is Amaya's best friend is the shifter queen's niece, and we had to get them to the continent while being hunted by crazy evil sorcerers that can make portals and literally step up out of nowhere. I like our odds against the humans."

Simon laughed. "I like you. You're cool."

Liam grinned. "Haven't heard that in a while."

Liam spent the next few hours telling us about his various adventures with Michael and how he came to meet Amaya. It was a highly entertaining and interesting story, and it made me respect the Spanish speaking brunette even more than I did just knowing she could turn into a dragon.

We heard everyone returning before we saw them, the various vehicles announcing their return.

Clary and Jace approached first, grinning.

"Did you guys finally make out or something?" Liam asked.

Clary flushed as bright as her hair and went back towards Alec, causing Jace to glare at him.

"I was working towards something Liam," he snapped.

"Since when is Clary shy?" He asked, genuinely confused by her behavior.

"Since she actually cares about Jace," I said, patting his shoulder.

Amaya chose that moment to walk through the trees, just as Liam let out a foul curse in what sounded like French. She paused mid step and raised an eyebrow at him, then turned to me questioningly.

"He accidentally made Clary super uncomfortable."

Amaya grinned and smacked Liam on the shoulder.

"Just go apologize pendejo. It's not like Clary doesn't know you'r people skills suck."

"Ha-ha," Liam deadpanned and he stalked out of the clearing, muttering to himself in French.

"I'm learning French by the way," Amaya called after him. He froze, looking over his shoulder, before continuing, calling back to her,

"But you don't speak it now."

She made a face at his retreating back and I laughed at their exchange.

"You guys are cute," I told her.

She grinned at me. "Thanks. He's a pain."

I laughed again as everyone came through the trees.

"Let's go," Alec said. "We've got four motorcycles and an SUV."

"I'll take a bike," Simon says.

"Me too," Liam added.

"I'll go in the SUV with Ares. I've never driven a motorcycle before so it's probably safer for me to get in the car," I said, stretching my arms up.

"I still owe you a lesson," Simon said, and his eyes burned as he looked at me. It made a pleasant shiver run up my spine.

"A good looking chick on a motorcycle. Hot," Amaya winked at me and I laughed.

Me, Kalina, Jace, and Amaya climbed into the SUV and the rest of the boys got on the motorcycles and we were off.

"So how far are we from this safe house?" I asked Clary, who was driving.

"About two and a half hours, give or take with traffic."

"I'm going to take a nap then." I was hoping that she would open up to Jace about that look she shared with Alec when I'd mentioned my mother.

"Me too," Amaya said from the way back. Ares was laid out across the floor in front of me and I laid out across the seats on my stomach, my arms as my pillow.

I took deep breaths, slipping into meditation, concentrating only on my breathing. I heard Amaya's soft snores after some time and that's when Clary started talking.

"I feel so bad not telling her," she said quietly, probably trying not to wake me or Amaya.

"What good would telling her do Clare?" Jace asks. "She'd just go running back north and put herself in danger. And she wouldn't even be able to save Samantha. It's as good as done."

I struggled to keep my breathing steady. They were talking about my mom. Was something going to happen to her? Why wasn't anyone going to help her? Why didn't anyone tell me? I started planning. I would have Simon teach me the basics of riding a motorcycle when we got to Chula Vista and when everyone went to sleep I'd drive home. I'd take a cell phone from one of the-

"My dad ordered the hit to draw her out. And if she knew that her mom's life was in danger… it would work."

Yes it would. Knowing that Valentine was likely waiting for me didn't change anything for me.

I would rescue my mother.

While mentally planning how I would get away from everyone and find my way home I actually fell asleep. I woke to us pulling into a gas station. A newspaper outside of the attached convenience store said that we were in San Diego, so I knew we were close to the safe house. I saw Clary pull a handful of twenty dollar bills from a backpack under the seat before she got out of the car.

I stretched, arching my back, and then made a split second decision. I climbed into the front passenger seat that Jace had vacated to go inside of the convenience store with Amaya and Clary, reached down under the seat and pulled the backpack forward, quickly unzipping it, yanking out a handful of bills and shoving them into my pockets before zipping the backpack and shoving it back under the seat. When Clary and Jace came back to the car they had some starbursts and a Vanilla Coke, my favorites. I pushed out a yawn, thanked them for the snacks, pushed down my guilt, and asked for the direction of the bathroom.

"You ok Izzy? You look kind of… rattled," Jace asked, furrowing his eyebrows.

"Yeah, I'm fine," I said, forcing a smile onto my face. "Just tired."

Once inside the bathroom I counted my bounty and smiled slightly at my luck. I'd managed to get around $500. Much more than I would need, especially since the bike would already have almost a full tank of gas when I left.

Putting my hands on the edges of the sink I looked at myself in the mirror, immediately seeing what made Jace look so worried. I had a wild look in my eyes. Like an animal that'd been backed into a corner and was getting ready to attack. I sighed, shaking my head. Or maybe I just felt like a trapped animal. I briefly wondered where they got so much money from, but I dismissed the thought, because it's not like I could just come out and ask them. Not yet.

I did my business and washed my hands, splashing cold water on my face until the cornered animal look faded slightly. I couldn't get rid of it completely, there was too much anticipatory energy buzzing underneath my skin; I felt like I was vibrating with it. I got myself under control, as much as I was able, and then I left the bathroom.

We made it to the safe house at roughly around 8:30pm.

My butt was sore, and my wings were stiff, but I had a plan and I needed to see it through.

"Is there food inside?" I asked, opening the door and climbing out of the back seat. I stretched up on my toes, reaching my arms up and stretching my wings out as far as they could go. When my arms came down and my wings relaxed I looked to my left and saw Simon staring where my shirt had risen up above my belly button. I felt my face get hot and turned away from him to face Clary, who was smirking.

"Food?" I insisted. "I'm starving."

Wisely choosing not to say anything about the exchange, Clary gestured for me to follow her and led me into the house. It was much different from the house built into the cave. Two stories with a wraparound porch and close enough to the beach that I could hear the waves clearly.

Alec came over and put his arm around my shoulders, steering me after Clary.

"Amaya made enchiladas, beans and rice before we left to meet you guys, so there's tons of food in the fridge. Amaya can really cook."

Amaya pretended to blush, putting one hand on her cheek and waving Alec away with the other.

"Oh stop it you."

Alec and I laughed, heading through the now open doorway where his arm dropped from my shoulders.

"Isabelle!" Simon called. When I turned to face him he was still by the motorcycles.

"Did you want that riding lesson tonight?"

My face heated again at the innuendo, but I nodded.

"Yeah, I want to learn to drive the motorcycle. After I eat."

Michael came around to Simon and clapped him on the back. I hung back by the door waiting for Ares and caught his parting words.

"You don't have to be so loud about claiming her," Michael started, but Simon cut him off.

"Claiming her? She's not a piece of luggage."

"Claim her, want her, whatever. I've been spending too much time with the shifters. Anyway, you don't have to be so loud about it. Alec may not know her, but she's still his sister and he's still protective over her. He wouldn't have let them send any males who weren't already taken. If he had his way, I'm sure he'd be sending you away too, but she trusts you."

Simon muttered something that sounded like, "Not enough." But then he spoke up. "I'm not just doing it for your benefit. Claiming her." The word sounded funny, like he wasn't sure it quite fit. "I'm doing it for hers too. So that she gets the idea that I'm not going to just give up on her and find someone else. Someone less guarded, less-" broken. He cut himself off before the ugly word came out and paused. My heart was pounding in my chest, and I was sure that everyone in the house could hear it; could hear him. But I had to hear what he had to say. I had to know.

"I want Izzy. I wanted her before I even knew what it was to want to be with a girl. I saw how my parents lived and loved and I wanted that with Izzy. She's… todo… Izzy es todo. That's the best way I can put it."

I knew what todo meant. We'd said it to each other enough growing up, when we were about to gorge ourselves on sweets or s'mores, or when we'd made bets over who ran faster.

'Everything?'

'Everything.'

'Todo?'

'Todo.'

I hurried away from the doorway into the kitchen, dimly noticing that Ares was at my heels but not remembering when he'd come into the house. My heart was pounding, my palms were sweating, there was a dull roar in my ears and I felt like the intro to an Eminem song.

When I stepped into the kitchen, everyone was staring at me, Amaya with wide eyes, and Clary and Liam both with identical smirks.

"So," I clapped my hands and thanked the moon and stars that my voice was steady. "How about those enchiladas?"

A/N: Sorry this took me so long! Between school and work and my dogs I've had a hard time sitting down to write. I'm already starting the next chapter though, so it shouldn't be as long this time. :)


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